The real stories from inside the F1 paddock

The last action of the F1 year

The post-Abu Dhabi test which took place on Tuesday and Wednesday resulted in the fastest lap going to Mercedes test driver Pascal Wehrlein, who lapped the circuit in 1m42.624s, during his 96 laps of running on the second day of the test. This was six-tenths faster than the Ferrari of test driver Raffaele Marciello, who clocked a 1m43.208s after 91 laps. Max Verstappen did two full days and completed 133 laps with a best of 1m43.888s, ahead of Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari, 81 laps with a best of 1m43.888s and Nico Rosberg (114 laps with a best of 1m44.512s). Jolyon Palmer was next in the Force India but did only 37 laps for a best of 1m44.516s followed by the Sauber of Marcus Ericsson. The Swede did 178 laps over the two days and set a best of 1m44.551s, while Will Stevens was next for Caterham, completing 178 laps with a best of 1m44.888s. Spike Goddard was next for Force India with a best of 1m44.944s after 89 laps, while Daniel Ricciardo and Carlos Sainz Jr completed 88 and 100 laps respectively, setting best laps of 1m45.151s and 1m45.339s. Felipe Nasr did another test for Williams, ending his day with 83 laps under his belt and a best of 1m45.937s, while Lotus ran Charles Pic, Alex Lynn and Esteban Ocon. Pic was fastest with a 1m46.167s after 89 laps but Lynn was only a fraction slower, setting a 1m46.168a lap after 52 laps and Ocon did 34 laps and set a best of 1m47.013s. McLaren and Honda struggled, with Stoffel Vandoorne doing five laps over two days, without setting a lap time.
The times are not really indicative of anything as we do not know what the teams were trying to achieve.